Majokko Tickle

Majokko Tickle is an early Magical Girl series created by Go Nagai, airing from 1978 to 1979 on TV Asahi and produced by Toei Company with the participation of several different animation studios, including Sunrise (but not Toei Animation, due to Nagai's personal frustrations with the studio at that time).

Tiko, a shy Japanese schoolgirl, receives a book as a gift from her father on her eleventh birthday. When Tiko opens the book, she releases Tickle, a mischievous fairy who was imprisoned inside the book for playing pranks on people. Tickle spends the series living with Tiko (having cast a spell so that the family believes she's Tiko's sister), using her powers to solve everyday problems, and of course playing tricks on people, particularly Tiko's annoying kid sister, Hina.

Don't let the name Go Nagai fool you; this show is nothing like his earlier (and more popular) magical girl series. Majokko Tickle is more along the lines of a traditional magical girl show like Mahou Tsukai Sally, definitely safe for young kids.

Tropes used in Majokko Tickle include:

• Alternative Foreign Theme Song: Averted in most cases; of the various foreign dubs, only the French version had a completely original opening theme. The original Japanese OP song was kept for the Spanish (except for Tickle's opening incantation) and Polish (except for the voiceover announcing the series title) versions, the Italian used an instrumental cover version of the Japanese, and the Cantonese had a redub of the Japanese theme.
• Animation Bump: The animation quality in the Neomedia-animated episodes is very poor in general, but the quality improves exponentially in the Kaze Production- and Sunrise-animated episodes.
• Annoying Younger Sibling: Hina
• Bittersweet Ending: In the final episode, Tickle is outed as a witch when she uses magic to stop a knife from impaling Mother. She confesses everything, which means she'll have to go back to the magic kingdom, but Hina burns the picture book which would have been Tickle's only way home. An overjoyed Tickle gets to stay on Earth, but loses her magical powers as a trade-off.
• Butt Monkey: Hina
• Cassandra Truth: Nobody believes Hina when she claims to have seen Tickle using magic.
• Cool Teacher: Ms. Hanamura. She acts as sort of a Cool Big Sis for Tickle and Tiko, making her very unlike teachers in Go Nagai's other works.
• Cute Witch: Tickle
• Dub Name Change: In the Italian dub, Tickle's name was changed to Lilli, and Tiko became Mirtilla. The French dub calls Tiko "Cheko," but the names are otherwise unchanged.
• Fat Girl: Fuko ("Fu-chan"). She's often bullied for her weight, but becomes close friends with Tickle and Tiko.
• Fish Out of Water: Living in the human world and having a family are both new experiences for Tickle.
• Girlish Pigtails: Tickle
• Hey, It's That Voice!: Tickle is voiced by Rihoko Yoshida, who voiced another Majokko (Megu-chan) four years earlier. Tiko also has the same voice actress as Yuki Mori and Saeko Nogami.
  • Saburo, a boy on whom Tickle and Tiko both have crushes, is voiced by Akira Kamiya.
• Intoxication Ensues: In one episode, Tickle immediately gets blotto drunk after (accidentally) swallowing a mouthful of whiskey when the girls try to make fish au gratin (It Makes Sense in Context). Hilarity Also Ensues, with an intoxicated Tickle slurring her magical incantation and turning Tiko's room into a shambles before passing out.
• Lethal Chef: Tickle and Tiko's first attempts at cooking in episode 38 end hilariously badly. Tickle makes an omelet using her magic, but it tastes awful; Tiko's cookies resemble charcoal briquettes; and due to their cookbook's pages sticking together, the girls try to make fish au gratin with whiskey in the sauce, which only results in Tickle swallowing some of the liquor by accident and becoming drunk. Eventually the girls realize that learning to cook takes a lot of time and patience.
• Lighter and Softer: Compared to Go Nagai's other work, Majokko Tickle definitely is.
• Mitsuko Horie: Sang the and OP and ED theme songs.
• Magical Incantation: "Maharu Tamara Furanpa" is Tickle's.
  • Tiko also has one - "Pekepon" - that she uses to seal Tickle back inside the book from which she came, to punish Tickle for getting out of hand. Another incantation, "Kurunka Kurunkotekopokoten," brings Tickle back out from the book into the Muggle world.
• Muggle Best Friend: Tiko. She's the only one in the family who is aware that Tickle is really a witch (although Hina has her suspicions).
• Muggle Foster Parents: Complete with the "hypnotism of family" subtrope that's common in Magical Girl shows.
• Names to Know in Anime: Masaki Tsuji, who worked with Go Nagai on Devilman and Cutie Honey, wrote a few episodes of this series. Future Pokemon director Kunihiko Yuyama storyboarded several episodes, and Nagai himself wrote the opening theme lyrics.
• The Prankster: Tickle. She mellows a bit as the series progresses but never loses her mischievous streak.
• Rich Bitch: Satomi
• Sealed Mischief In A Can: Tickle
• Secret-Chaser: Hina is constantly trying to expose Tickle as a magic-user, but it never works.
• Shout-Out: Tickle, Tiko and Hina watch Pink Lady (yes, that Pink Lady) performing on TV in one episode. The popularity of Pink Lady (a duo known for singing and dancing in perfect unison) among young girls is said to have been a big influence in the development of this series and the decision to make Tickle and Tiko a "double protagonist."
  • A now-rare version of the end credits features cameos by none other than Tweety Bird, due to TV Asahi using Tweety as an image character at that time. This sequence was replaced for reruns and home video releases.
• Shrinking Violet: Tiko, though her confidence grows as the series progresses. She'll tell Tickle off if her pranks go too far (even to the point of re-sealing Tickle in her book as punishment), and she once stands up to Alpha Bitch Satomi for bullying a junior student.